Watching someone dear to me walk through the valley of the shadow of death just became very real to me. That someone was my mom.
We had just chatted on the phone for about 20 minutes and said good night around 11:00. My husband and I awoke abruptly to the shrill sound of a ringing phone at 3:13AM. It was my dad and he had just found my mom unresponsive. He administered CPR while on the phone with 911, the paramedics came and she had no pulse… they were heading to the hospital… We frantically drove to the ER and had to wait many, long minutes before we could go to her.
When they called us back, they had intubated her, said she had suffered cardiac arrest, and they were prepping her for the cath lab (a room with diagnostic equipment where they can examine the heart). While sitting with our family in the waiting room, we suddenly heard a “code blue in cath lab room 1”. It was somewhere around 5:00AM and there was only one room in operation. We knew it was my mom.
The moments that followed are indescribable and I will not even try to explain the feelings and emotions that washed over that little room. When someone finally came to give us an update several minutes later, we were told that she had suffered another cardiac arrest and had to be shocked three times to get her heart beating again. They had placed three stents, and she was being moved to the ICU for recovery.
As the cardiologist left the room, I whispered to my husband, “she just walked through the valley of the shadow of death, didn’t she”? He said, “yes, and the Lord was her shepherd”.
The days that laid ahead were trying, long, and tiresome. She was placed in a state of hypothermia for 24 hours to help slow her bodily functions down to allow her brain time to heal, then slowly warmed for 16 hours before they could take her off the sedation and paralytic medications. There were many questions and concerns for what might happen when and if she awoke.
While I felt the need to share a handful of details of my mom’s story to this point to give some understanding to this post, I really felt the need to write about the goodness of God. The doctors came in while she was sedated in the ICU and did an echo-cardiogram of mom’s heart. There was no damage to the heart and we were told this was a miracle! This was evidence of the first of many miracles.
My mom did wake. A miracle! She knew each of us standing around her bed. Yes, a miracle! She could move her toes on both of her feet and squeeze our hands with both of hers. Another miracle. As time progressed, she was able to smile, speak, and recount a long, wonderful history including important dates and details. Yet, another miracle. From there she could sip water and broth, then sit on the edge of her bed, then slowly walk to a chair. More miracles. Each day she grew stronger and stronger and one week later to the date, she left the hospital to go home with dad where she belongs. Another miracle.
God saw fit to allow us to share more time together on this earth and He restored her health. For this my heart overflows with thankfulness. But, He did more than just allow us time together. The Great Shepherd walked my mom through the valley of the shadow of death, then walked her through miracle after miracle.
Psalms 100:3 – Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Psalms 52:9 – I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it…
Many lessons were learned during this journey I witnessed and one day I hope to write about them. I also have so much to say about my mom, who is indeed a miracle, and maybe one day those words will find their way into a writing.
For now I will say with David in one of my favorite Psalms:
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24
I Will Rejoice 